Greetings Stephen, and welcome to planDisney!
Just like Tigger loves bouncing around the Hundred Acre Wood, my family enjoys hopping from one theme park to another during our Walt Disney World vacations. The wonderful thing about the
Park Hopper® Option is the ability to be spontaneous with your afternoons and evenings. I'm happy to share some current protocols and best practices for making the most of my favorite ticket upgrade.
At this time, all Walt Disney World Guests must use the
Disney Park Pass System to reserve their theme park days in advance. If your ticket includes the Park Hopper® Option, you can visit any theme park for which you don't have a reservation, anytime after 2:00 PM, pending availability. Should Park Hopping be temporarily suspended due to a park reaching its capacity limit, this information will be shown on the
My Disney Experience Mobile App.
My family will be vacationing in August, and on our first day, we have reservations to visit the
Magic Kingdom Park. We have two young Mouseketeers who will need a midday break, so we'll head back to our resort for a rest after lunch. That day, we don't have definite plans for the late afternoon or evening, so when we're ready to head back out there, we'll make a decision based on weather, attraction wait times (available on the My Disney Experience Mobile App), and how our kids are feeling. Other days, we might begin our day in one theme park and know exactly where we're going in the afternoon and evening based on dining reservations. We love to end our day with a meal eat and
nighttime spectacular in
EPCOT, so we conclude many of our days there.
If you're not sure if Park Hopping will be a good fit for your group, you are welcome to upgrade your tickets once you arrive at Walt Disney World, as long as you do so before the last day the tickets are valid. Keep in mind that you will be required to add the Park Hopper® Option to the duration of your ticket, regardless of how many days you plan to use it. During a five-day trip, my family and I tend to hop three to four days, and we still find the addition of the Park Hopper® valuable. For us, it's a matter of flexibility. We like knowing we can hop when and if we want to. If you're looking for more spontaneity in your Disney vacation, I 100% recommend making park hopping part of your world.
I hope this is helpful, Stephen. My family has had wonderful Walt Disney World trips over the years with and without visiting multiple theme parks each day. Best wishes as you continue to plan for and dream about your magical getaway, and if there's anything else we can do before your adventure begins, come see us again.
TTFN, ta ta for now!
Betsy